Hostile architecture does not discriminate: A tour through a city being transformed

As San José fills with spikes made from metal rods, broken glass and sharp stones, the crisis of homelessness is changing the city’s streets and, ultimately, the lives of everyone who moves through them.

The article takes readers through a city where public spaces are being altered to prevent people living on the streets from sleeping or settling there. One image shows a homeless resident sleeping in front of shop windows in central San José.

The focus is hostile architecture, including spikes and modified benches intended to drive people living on the streets away. The article presents these changes not only as a response to homelessness, but as a transformation of shared urban space that affects the wider population.